The desperation of Konoha
by nakuzzle
Summary: As Konoha struggles to evolve in the ninja world, what can be done? Can Naruto do anything about the changes of the tide? Remember to R&R.
1. Pleading guilty

Naruto moved from his bed. He hated the weather here – the sticky, moist feel of sand all over his body was enough to make him feel like going home. Unfortunately, that wasn't an option.

He had left Konohagakure two years prior, for political reasons. He felt like it was time to move on. In some ways, he did not know if what he did was right or if he should give up – but his choice was made, and it was done.

Moving around his room, Naruto scratched his head and slurped from a milk carton. Now 24, he felt ashamed at his lack of healthy eating habits. Currently wearing nothing but underwear, he pulled on white and red trousers, before donning a red shirt and ninja boots. He wore no headband.

He stepped out of his front door, and was immediately hit by the hard grit of sand and sweat, despite being under the shadow of his house. With a smile, his blue eyes darted to the figure stood against the opposing wall.

"Long time no see, idiot." Sasuke grinned. It had been a long time, and the visit was not totally unexpected to Naruto.

"Nice to see you to, Sasuke-kun. Is this a social call?"Naruto replied. They both walked forwards, meeting in the middle of the street. Naruto noticed Sasuke's juunin outfit and ANBU gloves – somebody had been accepted back home. The garb was slightly modified, however – there was an Uchiha clan symbol on the heart, and Naruto guessed there would be one on the back also.

"Business, as usual. You coming back yet?" Sasuke got straight to the point. Naruto motioned for him to walk at his side, turning onto a busy street, they both headed toward the kage tower.

"No." Naruto stated simply. "I like it here. And I'm not finished here, yet."

"We need you back, Naruto, as soon as you're ready. I'm not here to force you, this time." Sasuke stated.

"_Need _me back, Sasuke? What's the problem?" Naruto caught the anxiousness in Sasuke's voice for the first time.

"Konoha is... failing, Naruto-kun. Quite simply, the new generation isn't up to it. We're at the peak of our physical ability, but the new gennins and the academy students – they just can't seem to match up to our needs." Sasuke told the truth, and Naruto expected no less.

"Explain more?" Naruto asked. They were moving steadily through the street, and as the people knew Naruto, he occasionally smiled at passers-by. His attention was focused on Sasuke, yet neither stopped worrying about the surroundings.

"We aren't popular, anymore. Ninja's, I mean. There's not been a war between villages for nine years, and the villagers have settled. They think we aren't needed any more. The feeling has spread into the new gennins and the academy students – they are lazy. Parents have stopped pushing for the children to be protectors of the village, and would rather they followed into the family business. Look at the Yamanaka's – at least Ino went to the academy – her little sister isn't even bothering, she's just helping out at the flower shop. Its crazy. The worst thing is, its only happening to us." Sasuke looked at Naruto pleadingly. "I look around Suna and I see the academy here thrives. I'm told that Mist is stronger then ever. Wave has started its own militia – its only a matter of time before Konoha cannot protect itself from the other nations. We need you back, we need all the help we can get." Sasuke finished.

Naruto thought about the proposition Sasuke had not yet made. "So you want me to come back and beef up Konoha a little bit? I'm presuming, from the plight I hear you've got yourselves into, that I'm not the only one you're all out looking for."

"No, you aren't. Most of the juunins are out looking for missing-nins – we're offering full pardon for 'past atrocities' committed, if we can get more shinobi back home. Please, Naruto." Sasuke finished.

They reached the door to the kage tower in the hidden village of wind. Naruto deliberated what Sasuke had said, and finally reached his verdict. "I'm sorry, Sasuke-kun, but you may as well go home. I'm not ready yet – I still have work here to do. I'll be back when I feel I should be. Don't worry though – you can count on me!" Naruto smiled and slid the door open and walked into the tower.

Sasuke looked beaten. Running his hands through his hair, he had a thought – _at least Naruto's still Naruto... "You can count on me!"... I know I can, brother. _Sand flew as Sasuke flew off back home.


	2. Grey past

The door slid open, and Naruto stepped inside the kazekage's office. As had been the norm for the last two years, Gaara was sat with his circular desk covered in books and paper. His kage hat was lying on top of a pile that looked relatively new to Naruto.

"Gaara-san, how's it going?" Naruto walked forwards.

"As miserably as ever, Naruto. This is getting more and more hopeless." Gaara looked forlorn as he told Naruto the abrupt nature of his failed attempts. "I think we just have to make do, Naruto."

"Surely there must be something we can do?" Naruto's smile had vanished. He stood with his hands resting on the desk. To Naruto, giving up wasn't an option. "We haven't tried everything yet, there are still options!"

Gaara noticed the look on Naruto's face. "Make peace with it, Naruto." Gaara stated calmly. He set the book he was holding down on the desk, an placed his hands together. Leaning back, he said, "We've been looking for ways of controlling the Bijuu's for 18 months now, Naruto. You might have spare time, but I... I'm the kazekage, and I've been deserting my people. I feel like I am neglecting them." Gaara looked down, ashamed of himself.

Naruto was crestfallen. "Gaara, you've been a great kazekage! The people love you!"

"But for how long? I've been removing myself more and more from the public eye as I delve deeper into these books to search for ways I can use my demon... and failing. We have found no hint whatsoever of a way of controlling them. I need to get my priorities in order, Naruto."

Naruto grimaced. "I know it's been tough, but we are the only ones left. Akatsuki got all the others, and we only just managed to stop them. We need to do this, Gaara!"

"No, we don't, Naruto-kun. We _want_ to do this. For ourselves. We don't need it. We have got too involved. I'm out, Naruto. I failed, and I can accept that. You need to as well. I'm sorry."

Naruto stared at Gaara. He didn't know what to say, standing up, Naruto turned and walked out of the room.

Stood in the desert, Naruto carried on practicing with his ninjutsu. Over the last 2 years he had formed a hut here, just so he had a place to come and practice. He found it peaceful, and found the sand useful to practice his wind techniques against. That was part of the reason of coming to the village of Sand – their expertise in wind meant that he could learn a lot here. _I have learnt a lot here, _he thought. _Just not what I really needed to. Or wanted too...? _Naruto was confused over everything that Gaara had said. For the last few years he had felt like he had a purpose, and that if he managed to win then it would be for the good of the world. But according to Gaara, he was being selfish. _Maybe he's right? Maybe I left Konoha for myself... I thought I was doing it for them, but... I don't know._ Naruto sighed, and fell to the ground. Breathing softly, he looked up into the sky.

Leaving Konoha had been a hard decision for Naruto. When they were sixteen, they had finally defeated Akatsuki. Sasuke had beaten Itachi, but was nowhere to be seen. Jiraiya, sadly, had fallen to Pein, yet Naruto had managed to avenge his death. With no threats left in the world, Naruto and the rest of the team had all gone home. All of the sudden, there was no purpose. He trained and trained to be the strongest, every day, with Kakashi, but he felt empty. Becoming hokage was everything to him, but he felt like there was something missing. Training solidly for four years, in between simple missions, Naruto had grown as a ninja, but didn't feel like he could grow within himself. When he was twenty, Tsunade retired and pronounced Kakashi the sixth hokage. This was expected to Naruto, who felt that he wasn't ready to lead yet anyway. Although now a chuunin with some exemplary skills, he was not good enough at his basics.

Six months after Kakashi's appointment, Sasuke reappeared. He went to Kakashi first, asking for acceptance back to restart his old clan in a new form. According to himself, he had learnt the secrets of his clan and wished for the new way to be different, and that he was ashamed of the way they used to be. After a vote between all the ninja in Konoha, Sasuke was reinstated as a ninja at Gennin level, on probation. He was watched closely by ANBU at all times, but he didn't put a foot wrong.

One of the first things Sasuke did was find Naruto and the rest of the rookie 11 – he asked for forgiveness. Although some had trepidations, he promised he would prove to them that he was worth it and they gave it to him. Naruto was one of the first to welcome him back.

Unfortunately, that still wasn't the problem. Still training, when he hit 21 he realised that he needed to leave, just like Sasuke did. He needed time away, to see things that would let him grow as a person. He promised all that he would be back, and that he wasn't leaving for good – he simply needed time to himself. Kakashi accepted this and told him he could have a few years to himself, as long as he kept in touch.

After six months of searching the world for something to make him feel real, he found himself at the wind country. The only place he was yet to visit, he called in on Gaara. After a long chat, he decided that he would stay here to learn of alternative ninja attitudes, as well as learning wind jutsu that the country specialises in. When he confided in Gaara of his feelings, an idea was thought of.

Gaara said, "Is it the kyuubi?"

Naruto was dumbstruck. He had been surpressing the kyuubi since his fight with pein, for almost 6 years. Maybe, just maybe, that was the problem.

But they had hit failure. They looked through every book, searched out every rumour, but to no avail. They were still as in control of their demons as they were in control of the weather. And now, Gaara had given up.

Naruto thought on Sasuke's offer. He had no reason to be here any more. He had mastered all the wind techniques they had thrown at him, and he had even made a few himself. He had mastered nature manipulation and shape manipulation, so his ninjutsu was fine. Receiving basic training in weapons, he now carried a pair of curved knives that fit into his belt that he was adept with - but his objective had still not been completed.

_Maybe I should just go home?_ He thought. _I can't study on my own. Maybe I should just try to live my life again? Konoha needs me._ His decision was made. It was time to head home. Naruto smiled.

Sasuke zoomed into the hokage office, as Kakashi looked up from underneath the hat he knew looked silly. He still wore his mask.

"Well?" Kakashi asked.

"Success. I think. Gaara agreed." Sasuke replied.

Kakashi smiled underneath his mask. _Good... welcome home, Naruto._

**A/N – please review – this is the first fanfic I've bothered to attempt at so I wouldn't mind some constructive criticism. The chapters will probably get longer if I get some decent feedback that makes it worth it.**

**Disclaimer – the only thing I own is my mind.**


	3. Travels

**A/N – can people do me a favour and remember to review, please? It'll help me out a lot. Thanks.**

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The packing was finished. He didn't have much, just a few spare changes of clothes. All the weaponry he carried, the shurikens and such, were kept at his leg – his knives at his belt. He dressed in a light white legging and open chested top combo. A black cloak was also with him for when he got out of the desert and into the fire country. His hair had grown longer in his two year absence, with the blonde, spiky mess now protruding down the sides of his face as well.

Naruto left his room and headed towards the kazekage tower for the final time in the time he had been there. He was going to regret this, he knew, but he could not leave his country behind when he was needed.

Reaching the office, he found Gaara, Kankaru, and Temari all gathered.

"You are leaving then? We assumed as much." Gaara said, somewhat sadly.

Naruto nodded. He looked away, before looking at each of them in turn. They had all grown so much since meeting when they were twelve, and now they all had responsibilities to keep.

"Thank you, for letting me stay here for so long. I am in your debt, Gaara-sama." Naruto said. "I respect you all, but it is time for me to go home. I am needed there."

Temari spoke. "You do what you need to do, Naruto." She smiled, slightly.

Kankuru was next. "You have become strong, leaf-head. You might beat me one day. Who knows? We shall see in time. Good luck, Naruto-kun."

They all bowed to each other. Gaara's kage hat fell off. Naruto couldn't help but laugh.

"What are we doing? This is too formal for me!" he chuckled as Gaara grumbled about the loose fitting that the hats were made with these days. Naruto carried on. "You're all family to me, and I can't wait to come back. It's only because the leaf can't last five minutes without me."

With that, Naruto left the room. Gaara couldn't help but smile.

"Worked like a charm..." He said. The other two simply smiled along with him.

Naruto, now wearing his cloak, moved through rain territory. The quickest way for him to get back would be to head straight across – rather then worry about going round and staying out of hostile territory.

The tree's were a blur to him at this point – he didn't think about where he was going or what he was doing. His legs just moved onto the next branch, over and over again. Keeping his chakra steadily at his feet, he moved at his extremely fast speeds. Because of this, it was almost impossible to avoid the kunai that, if they had been thrown correctly, would of stabbed him in the back.

Fortunately, they fell slightly wide of target, and Naruto jumped left and planted into a tree trunk, behind he could see three nin – he presumed rain, considering the current country he resided in.

Pushing himself forward, he flew at the one on the left of the three. Creating a shadow clone behind himself he grabbed it and threw it forwards, propelling it into the enemy. The shadow clone dispersed in a puff of smoke after it hit the surprised shinobi – two kunai followed, stabbing both his arms into a nearby tree trunk.

The real Naruto landed where the now defunct shinobi had stood a moment before. He looked at the headbands – they were indeed rain nin.

"Why are you attacking me? I'm passing through, thats all." Naruto exclaimed.

"You are not a rain shinobi. We are hostile towards any intruders at this time. All village's were made aware of this – you are no exception." the one closest to him said.

Naruto stepped back into a fighting stance and pulled out his knives. The two he prepared to fight pulled out kunai's. As the first one darted forward, the rain ninja behind him threw his kunai. It flew at Naruto, who caught it on the end of his curved blade – before flicking it back at the shinobi, stabbing him in the foot.

The remaining ninja stopped charging forward – he took note of Naruto's skill with knived and decided to take a different tactic to the battle.

Handseals started forming that Naruto vaguely recognised. As he stood there, the rain nin began to run forward, still forming the hand seals. Naruto had to act quickly. As the rain shinobi came into range, Naruto jumped. The rain nin shouted, "Suitton - Suiryuudan no Jutsu!", forming a sphere of water with the intent of catching Naruto within it, but Naruto was over and clear.

While in mid-air, he started forming hand seals of his own. Flipping over and facing the back of his enemy, he shouted - "Fuuton: Ashinaki no Jutsu!" focussing the chakra in his lungs, Naruto forced a blast of wind straight at the shinobi, hitting him square in the back.

The idea of the technique is that it removes all air from around the target, and it did just that – the rain nin could not breath, and was quickly unconscious.

Naruto had hit the ground, landing on his feet. He turned away from the three bodies and went to carry on with his journey – then he smiled.

"Sasuke, let me out of this goddamn genjutsu, would you?" Naruto said. He heard a laughing, before a clap, and the image of his surroundings shimmered slightly in front of him. He turned around, and saw that the rain shinobi bodies had all disappeared.

Sasuke appeared in front of him, standing on the branch above. "I thought you'd never even realise." He laughed.

Naruto smiled. "Kind of hard to miss the big Uchiha clan symbol shaped tree, to be honest."

"Yeah... thought that might give it away. I just thought I'd give your skills a little testing. You wouldn't, by any chance, be heading back to Konoha, would you, Naruto-san?" Sasuke asked. He already knew the answer.

"Fortunately for you, yes. Are you here to be my escort?" Naruto joked.

"Actually, yes, I am. Nobody goes in or out of Konohakagure without known ninja escort these days." Sasuke looked serious. "I'm needed to make sure new, idiot chuunins don't try and kill you."

Naruto laughed. "It's got that bad? You really do need the number one ninja back, don't you?!"

"Yeah, we do. Shikamaru's gone to go find him." Sasuke smiled slightly, "Come on, dobe, lets get home."

Naruto looked extremely confused. The joke had totally bypassed him. However, Sasuke had started to move so he guessed he better follow.

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**A/N – People, try and review please? The criticism will honestly help later chapters and as well as that, it lets me know people are actually reading the story. Cheers! **

**Translations -**

**Fuuton: Ashinaki no Jutsu Wind Element – Spiraling Blast technique**

**Suitton - Suiryuudan no Jutsu Water Element – Water Imprisonment technique**


	4. Homecoming

Naruto could see the gates in the distance. Konoha. Home. Or at least, it was, once. Now, he didn't know. From what Sasuke had told him, the situation isn't good. The genins were nowhere near up to scratch, and despite Iruka's best efforts, he was finding it hard to inject desire into the academy students. With numbers waning, the ninja factor of Konohakagure was desperate – while the villagers presumed that all was well, and that peace would be everlasting. That, unfortunately, was never going to happen.

"We're worried, Naruto." Sasuke said. They were now walking down the path that led to the ANBU entrance to Konoha, a side road that was hardly visible. Although it was not too far away from the main gate, it was in excellent strategic position. ANBU could quickly storm out and protect the gate, while still being able to sneak into the village unnoticed. Sasuke continued his speech. "With wave country starting a militia, they will start being hungry for power. It only takes one missing nin to think about becoming a brand new kage and all of the sudden we've got a new ninja village on our hands. The village of rock is heavily fortified now, although fortunately, their ties with Mist have severed. The Cloud village in Lightning country is still unknown, as it has been for a while. They refuse communication with all. We are still allied with Sand and Waterfall, but out of the two only Sand will give us any military help. Our current main objective is to look for solutions, but none are yet to appear. So, some of us were sent out to bring back shinobi, others were sent to ask look for possible training techniques currently being used in other villages. None of those ninja have returned." Sasuke looked grim.

They moved through the foliage. Naruto spoke. "Any idea on what I'll be needed to do? If we're not at war, I can't really see how I can help."

"I honestly don't know. My best bet would be some sort of training in wind jutsu for the genins and chuunins, as you're the only person we have with any skill since Asuma died. You'll be talking to the hokage soon, anyway." They approached the secret entrance – sasuke made a hand seal, and a manic voice spoke out.

"An Uchiha is it? Hmm... Well, you're a very bad boy aren't you, yes, mmm... Well, that wasn't nice was it, electrocuting him like that... and you tried to kill your best friend too? Deary me, I don't think I should even let you in!"

Sasuke was extremely tired of this. "Open the door, Ayame. I haven't got time for you." Naruto was confused.

"What's that voice? Why is it speaking to you like that?"

"It's a joke put here by the second hokage. Nobody ever worked out how to get rid of it. Ayame! Open the damn door! I have a guest, so don't kill him on his way in." Sasuke addressed the talking wall. It said nothing back, but a sigh was heard, before an outline in the wall appeared. It sank down into the ground, revealing a rather small hole.

"Come on," Sasuke said, walking forwards. Getting down on his hands and knee's, he crawled into the hole. "The door's usually bigger then this, but he's probably pissed off that I didn't rise to his little jokes."

Naruto shrugged and followed Sasuke, until they were through the wall and into a house that Naruto had always thought was empty. What he actually found was a room full of supplies. Kunai, shurikens, bandages and general items lay all over the place.

"Emergency store room, Naruto-san," Sasuke said, seeing the look on Naruto's face. "So we can get at anything we need, quickly."

They moved up to the roof. This was the first time Naruto had surveyed Konoha in two years... and nothing had changed. They were half way through putting Kakashi's face on the monument – complete with mask and sharingan – but apart from that, it looked like a very usual day. Naruto asked Sasuke, "Where do we go now, then?"

Sasuke looked at him. "I need to go and talk to Kakashi. You go ahead and go back to your apartment. I'll come and get you when your needed." Naruto nodded and Sasuke disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Naruto surveyed his surroundings. He could see smoke coming off the top of the ramen stand, but he wasn't too hungry just yet. The hokage tower was easily visible, but Kakashi would see him when he was ready. He decided to simply walk around, _because, _he thought, _I might see some old friends..._

Walking through the market stalls, Naruto spotted a very tall, brown haired man, sporting a beard – he looked a little bit like Asuma. _Konohamaru, _Naruto thought. He smiled.

Walking over, Naruto spoke. "So when did you get so tall, Konohamaru?" he laughed.

Konohamaru turned round. "Naruto! You're back! Gods, I thought you were going to be gone forever!" he laughed and pulled Naruto into a one armed hug.

Letting him go, he spoke. "So hows it going? Do anything nice on your travels? I was thinking that if you didn't come back soon, I was going to beat you to hokage!" Konohamaru laughed again.

"Nope, still around, 'maru!" Naruto looked at Konohamaru's current attire. "So your a chuunin now? Well done!" It was good to see Konohamaru again – especially seeing how much he had grown. Naruto felt ashamed of himself. He had been away for two years, and yet had not improved much at all.

"Yeah, I have been for a while now. Anyway, I've gotta go find Iruka-sensei, so I'll see you around, Naruto!" Konohamaru vanished.

Naruto smiled. _It's good to see some of the younger ones are still going for it. _He walked on, slowly heading towards his apartment. As he got closer, a familiar shape jumped out ahead of him. Two shapes, actually.

"Kiba, Akimaru! How's it going?" He shouted.

The two had been facing the other way, but heard the voice. Akimaru was now massive, bigger then Kiba and Naruto. Seeing Naruto, it pounced forward.

"Akimaru, no!" Kiba shouted. Akimaru stopped its gigantic leap from landing on Naruto, and managed to crash into the side of a house instead. The dog approached Naruto, panting and rubbing itself up against him.

"Hey Naruto, how've you been? Sorry about Akimaru, he gets a bit excited." Kiba said, smiling. He wore the same clothes as he used to – his hair was now extremely long, with red, triangular tattoos covering all of his arms as well as the two on his face – a symbol of his proper acceptance to the clan he was part of.

"I've been good. I see you're looking pretty well." Naruto bowed.

"What the hell, Naruto, bowing?! You've gone weird in the head man!" Kiba exclaimed.

"Nah, I'm just afraid your damn dog'll eat me if I don't show the proper respect." Naruto and Kiba laughed.

"You want a ride home? Akimaru's big enough for two. Three, probably, actually." Kiba offered.

"Yeah, why not?"

_10 minutes later_

Naruto was surveying his old apartment. Dust had settled on everything. The pictures and tables were covered, but everything was just as he had left it. He changed the sheets on his bed and tied a few things down, before doing a wind jutsu that blew all the dust out of the window for him. Naruto laughed as he untied the things he was worried about blowing away – the domesticated ninja.

He fell onto his bed, and after travelling all day, slept.

_6 hours later_

"Naruto-kun? Wake up." Naruto heard a voice coming from somewhere, but he was enjoying his dream. He realised, slowly, who the voice was.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto exclaimed, sitting up in the darkness of night.

A man dressed in a white robe sat on the end of his bed. A silly hat adorned his silver hair, while a mask covered his face. He had a modification on the hat that came down to tightly cover his left eye. Underneath the mask, Kakashi smiled.

"Hello Naruto, how was the journey home?" Kakashi politely asked.

For Naruto, seeing Kakashi again brought back old feelings. He smiled. "The journey was fine, Kakashi. I'm just wondering when I get my first mission."

Kakashi laughed. "I'm just here to discuss some technicalities with you for now. I thought I'd wait until you'd had a bit of sleep before I came round." Kakashi stood up and went over to the kitchen table. There was a carton of milk lying on the work top, which Kakashi stared at.

"Naruto, has this milk been here for two years?" He said.

"Probably. I wouldn't advise drinking it, sensei." Naruto grinned.

Kakashi sighed. _Some things don't change... _"Anyway, to the matter at hand. Naruto, how strong are you now?"

The question took Naruto by surprise, and his true feelings on his abilities showed through for a second on his face.

Kakashi read him like a book. "You feel like you haven't made much improvement, don't you. Well, I'll be the judge of that. Tomorrow, we will fight for the third time, Naruto-san. I need to test your abilities. By the way, would you like a forehead protector?" Kakashi said everything so calmly – Naruto was taken aback.

"Kakashi... do I deserve one? I left the village..." Naruto mumbled.

"Ha! Naruto, Sasuke left the village on bad terms and we let him come back. I think we can manage to forgive you for going to Sand for a while." Kakashi reached inside his robe. "Here, take my old one. I don't need it anymore, I have my silly hat." He smiled. "I'll see you in the morning, Naruto – you know where to go." And with that, Kakashi left.

Naruto was holding the forehead protector. Kakashi had given him HIS old forehead protector... the gesture meant a lot to Naruto. He put on his bedside table and lied down again. All that happened quite fast and it was taking a minute to sink in.

A fight with Kakashi.

Naruto stared straight at the ceiling. "Shit."

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**Naruto's back home! Please remember to review! :)**


	5. The Kakashi Crisis

His heart was beating fast. He would usually relish such a task: a fight with Hatake Kakashi! But Naruto, who had beaten Kakashi at his bell test once before, knew today was going to be different. Kakashi was going to go all out, and Naruto knew, deep down, under the confidence, that he might not win.

Stood next to the old ninja memorial, Naruto read the new names that had been inscribed since he had last been here – Jiraiya, and Asuma. He bowed at the monument before turning round, just in time to see Kakashi arriving from the sky.

They walked towards each other. Kakashi still wore his kage robe, but his hat was off today. He was planning to use the sharingan. Naruto was dressed in a black top and pants, with his new forehead protector now underneath his bushy hair.

Kakashi spoke as they neared each other. "Shall we begin, Naruto-san? This won't be a bell test. This is a no-holding-back fight. Are you ready?" Naruto nodded in reply.

Kakashi stepped backwards, before putting his hands together. As they formed a seal as quickly as they did, Naruto didn't have time to react. The hand seals finished, and Kakashi shouted, "Katon: Goukakyu no Jutsu!" Suddenly, a massive fireball was speeding towards Naruto. He jumped upwards, and hovered above the fireball for a moment. Suddenly, kunai were rushing towards him. He pulled out his knives and deflected each one – until one broke his guard and slashed his arm.

"Shit!" Naruto shouted, when he got back to ground. He was holding his arm, but as he looked toward Kakashi, he realised the man had disappeared. Naruto realised something. _He really isn't going to hold back. I'm going to be stretched... I need to show him what I can do, whether I lose or not._

With the new mindset, Naruto created three shadow clones. All four Naruto's then jumped into the tree's that surrounded the path they were fighting on. He saw the ground ripple where he had just been standing and smiled. He heard a shout. "Doton: Shinjū Zanshu no Jutsu!" and Naruto appear from underneath the ground. When he realised Naruto wasn't there, he quickly clambered out and moved into a defensive stance.

Naruto sent one of his shadow clones out to engage Kakashi in taijutsu. Telling the clone to defend while Naruto saw through his plan, Naruto made another shadow clone beside him and formed a Rasengan in his hand.

He ran out towards the back of Kakashi, and pulled back his hand to get a good swing. As he did, his currently fighting shadow clone vanished and a roundhouse kick made the real Naruto go flying into a tree.

"I know your shadow clone tactics, Naruto. Try something new." Kakashi stated.

Naruto stood up. He moved fairly close to Kakashi, who stood there. He knew that Kakashi liked to wait for the opponent to strike, before reading his move and countering. So, Naruto decided to do a move that it would be hard to counter.

He made two more shadow clones, and surrounded Kakashi. All of them did the hand seals and shouted "Fuuton: Tobidogou Maishin no Jutsu!" Spirals whirled around each Naruto's hands and fingers. They then produced more hand seals, but with the help of the last jutsu, at an unprecedented rate. Again, they all shouted. "Fuuton: Minawana no Jutsu!" Mini tornado's appeared at the ends of their fingers, and because of the first jutsu, were sped up to a massive speed. All the clones flicked their fingers, and the tornado's shot off straight at Kakashi.

Kakashi's eyes widened, as he saw the mini wind bullets flying straight at him.

Naruto watched all ten bullets hit. Kakashi hit the ground and sand and dirt was sent flying everywhere. Naruto sent one of his clones forward.

The clone saw a rather dented log, before disappearing from a very abrupt kunai to the back.

Kakashi sped at the next clone, quickly dispatching him. He made his way through all of them, before leaving the real Naruto just stood there, shocked.

"I see you've learnt some good ninjutsu. I'm impressed. Now, show me your taijutsu skills." Kakashi attacked with a kunai in his hand.

Naruto pulled out his curved knives, and parried the kunai with his left hand, before striking at Kakashi with his right. The hokage caught Naruto's right arm, leaving both of them totally exposed but with no free limbs to attack. Naruto thought of his next move. He let his right arm slip in its hold with Kakashi, so Kakashi could get a hit on his chest. Kakashi took the bait, and sent him flying into another tree.

As Naruto stood up, he ran towards Kakashi again. Kakashi smiled, and met Naruto head on. Both of them ended up in the same lock as before.

Suddenly, Kakashi heard a shout from behind him, and exclaimed. "Wha..!?" He was cut off when Rasengan hit him in the back. Just as it hit, Naruto relinquished his hold and Kakashi went flying forward, before hitting the ground hard.

Naruto told Kakashi. "I let you hit me in that first hold so I would have a chance to create a shadow clone. Then I distracted you."

Kakashi pulled himself up. "Yes, you fooled me because the real you doesn't hold back, whereas your shadow clones generally just defend when in taijutsu. However, I have to ask. Why are you using those knives, when they seem to hold no advantage over a regular kunai?"

At this, Naruto had to smile. "Remember Asuma's knives? They could cut through wood, and make a large crack in a rock. By having the same type of knife curved, I have something that can cut through _anything_, as long as I use it right."

"Ah, I see. So why did you pick a knife, instead of a sword or shuriken?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto looked slightly embarrassed. "Because I don't know how to use a sword..."

Kakashi just stared at him. "Alright, lets go." The hokage darted forward.

Meeting Naruto in taijutsu, they embarked into a flurry of fists and kicks, trying to get each others openings. Kakashi had no trouble blocking Naruto's attacks as he was using his sharingan – but then he realised something that astonished him.

He flipped backwards, and slid into a stop some yards away from Naruto. "Naruto-kun, I can see your every move with my sharingan, but I can't seem to adapt and use it to my advantage in the way I can with anybody else – except Sasuke. Why is this?"

Naruto laughed. "Noticed, have you? Whenever I've fought you or Sasuke, I've always been at a disadvantage because you can see exactly what I'm about to do. So I realised – I have to be able to react to your reactions. Essentially, I pump chakra into my arms and legs and let them move instinctively. When I do it, they just seem to do what they need to do. I might never land a hit on you, but I can guarantee that you won't hit me."

Kakashi blinked. "Let's test that."

All of the sudden, the hokage started pacing around the shinobi's hands were a blur, and fire was appearing all around Naruto. As Kakashi finished a full circle, he stepped inside. Naruto saw the idea – there was no escape from this without seriously injuring yourself. They had to compete in close combat.

They dashed towards each other, raining blows down. Kakashi went to kick Naruto's legs out from under him, but Naruto seemed to naturally stop the blow with a slight change in footing. Trying to build on the momentum, Naruto went to kick Kakashi – who was now off balance – only to find his leg caught in between Kakashi's arms. Pushed back, the two parted and came at each other once more. As Naruto went for an uppercut into Kakashi's chin, the hokage simply slid his head sideways and Naruto was completely overbalanced. A punch was then aimed at Naruto's stomach – but suddenly, Naruto's arm was in the way again, catching Kakashi's wrist.

Trying to pull Naruto over, Kakashi threw Naruto forward, but this was seen coming. Naruto simply kept his grip and, using his momentum given by the current enemy, threw Kakashi high into the air.

Kakashi had seen this coming. As he flew upwards, he started doing hand seals. Shadow clones appeared around him – he manoeuvred them into doing something he learnt from Naruto – getting the other shadow clones to grab him by the legs, he launched himself back down at the younger nin.

As the flying hokage came rocketing towards Naruto, he simply stepped out of the way. Kakashi went straight into the ground. Dust flew up into Naruto's face, and he coughed.

Recovering, he began to see Kakashi's shadow through the cloud. "You see, Kakashi-sensei? You can't hit me." Naruto smiled, confidently.

Kakashi pulled himself up and turned towards Naruto and dispersed the fire around them. "Really? I noticed a lot of birds started chirping just now."

Naruto's eyes widened before he was sent flying forwards. He landed just in front of the shinobi monument. He very slowly picked himself up – parts of his body seemed to of numbed themselves off.

"You are in the middle of a fight, Naruto. It doesn't matter that it's with me. Every advantage is an advantage. By stopping to talk when you should of finished me off I had a chance to use a shadow clone against you. I pulled the raikiri – the numbness shouldn't last too long." Kakashi blinked. "I think I've seen all I need to assess your ability. I'll release the genjutsu now."

Naruto went red – he hadn't even noticed he was in a genjutsu. "When did you put me under a genjutsu?"

"Just before I used my first jutsu. You didn't notice a thing, I see." Kakashi shook his head. "I'll get back to you later on today, Naruto. Go home and rest, or go and see your old friends? It has been a while since you spoke to any of them."

Naruto's vision shimmered, and all of the sudden, he and Kakashi were stood in the same positions they were at the start of the fight – by the old memorial.

Kakashi turned and walked away. He didn't know what to think of Naruto at this point. Certain things about him were glaringly obvious, but there were deep worries that had just been infused into the hokage's brain.

Naruto jumped away, before it was seen how shameful he felt. To be trapped in a genjutsu for a _whole_ fight... he hadn't shown himself for what he could do. _I haven't shown myself what I can do, for years, _Naruto thought. He was aware of his changes in personality, in feeling, in confidence. He felt like something was still missing. So far, being back in Konoha hadn't filled that space.

Back inside the bustle of the town, Naruto made his way to the ramen stand. Ichiraku greeted him.

"Ah, Naruto! Heard you were back, I was wondering when we'd get a visit from our best customer!" The old man laughed.

Naruto had to smile. Some things didn't change. "One bowl of the special, Ichiraku?" He began pulling out some money.

Ichiraku shook his head. "First time your back, its on the house."

The bowl set before him, Naruto ate. As he did so, he carried on thinking. _I wonder what Kakashi will think? I've let him down. I should of became a better ninja. Would Sasuke be better then me now? How did this happen...?_

He finished his food and walked towards home. The fight with Kakashi had rocked him. Was he becoming sloppy as a ninja? Did he not care anymore? All of the things that mattered so much only years ago seem to of been lost. _After the defeat of Akatsuki, the rookie 11 just... drifted. We felt unneeded. How can a ninja be a ninja, when there's nobody to ninja against? _Naruto smiled. The day was quiet for an early afternoon, and Naruto couldn't stop pondering. _The rest of the team got to places. Sasuke's ANBU, Sakura's head medic nin for the whole village, Lee teaches taijutsu to the academy students. Kiba, Chouji, Ino, Neji, Hinata, Shino... they all had their clans. I have no idea what Shikamaru's doing. Where did I go? Nowhere. Now where am I? In exactly the same place. _Naruto sighed, as he reached the door to his apartment. After he let himself in, he sat down and let closed his eyes.

Something needed to be done. Naruto needed to do whatever that happened to be.

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**A/N - sorry this took a while to get up, its the longest one ive written so far and I've had alot of stuff to do recently. remember to review! **

**Translations -**

Doton: Shinjū Zanshu no Jutsu: Earth Style: Inner decapitation technique

Katon: Goukakyu no Jutsu - Fire style: Great fireball technique

Fuuton: Tobidogou Maishin no Jutsu - Wind Release: Devils Speed technique

Fuuton: Minawana no Jutsu - Wind Release: Snapping Air Bullet technique


	6. Changed Men

Sasuke knocked on the cold surface of the wooden door. He was worried about one of his only friends in the world – Naruto had become increasingly distant and unsure of himself in the time since helping the Uchiha come to terms with his own past. He owed Naruto everything he could give him, and had promised himself that, even though it would be hard – especially considering how Sasuke hated this kind of crap – that he would turn Naruto into the man he once was and could be.

Naruto opened the door. A slight look of surprise crossed his face, followed by a look of slight embarrassment.

"Ah, Sasuke. You talked to Kakashi yet?" Naruto said, looking away slightly. He ushered Sasuke inside, and they both sat at the table. The apartment looked gloomy to Sasuke – Naruto had obviously not taken the time yet to properly spruce the place up since his return.

"Yes. I can't believe you were in a genjutsu for a whole fight. How could you not notice?" Sasuke smiled as he said it, but he knew that this would be the exact thing on Naruto's mind.

Naruto looked down into the ever-present milk carton. "Yes. Can we not talk about it? You know I've always hated genjutsu. I'm hopeless at it!" Naruto exclaimed. He wasn't sure if he was trying to defend himself or just give himself an excuse for failing miserably.

"You know you can't use that as an excuse, Naruto. You were fighting a _sharingan_ user, you dobe. Think about how the fight is going to pan out." Sasuke lent back in his chair. He picked up the milk carton to take a sip, but managed to notice the green tinge to the milk before it touched his lips.

"I know. I don't know what's wrong with me, Sasuke." Naruto sighed.

Sasuke looked surprised. _Oh, shit. Is he having a personality crisis?_ "Wrong with you?" Sasuke said. "There's nothing wrong with you. Kakashi just whooped your ass. Seriously, you probably showed yourself pretty well. Anyway, he wants to meet us both tomorrow morning. Not sure why, but that's what I came to tell you."

Naruto looked up. "Both of us? Maybe a mission?"

Sasuke shrugged. "Yeah, maybe. Who knows? Well, I'm going home to train. You feel like joining me?" Inside, Sasuke smiled. He had _never_ asked Naruto train with him. When he was younger they were both too arrogant to accept each others help. Now, he felt like he owed Naruto something. At least this.

Naruto, who also knew this distinct little fact, was taken by surprise. So much so, that he even agreed to take up Sasuke's offer.

Half an hour later, after a slow walk through Konoha, they were stood in a very desolate Uchiha compound training yard. Evidently, Sasuke had not yet had time to repopulate. Naruto was unsure of how touchy Sasuke was of this subject, so decided to leave it for the time being. He'd mention it after sake, maybe.

Sasuke spoke. "I've been working on a few new jutsu's. Obviously, you've seen kirin when I saved your ass from Madara, but I'm trying to make something that uses less chakra. I don't have my cursed seal any more, since Tsunade, Sakura and Kakashi all got rid of it for me, so I only have so much I can use. Kirin is useful, but it takes a massive blast of raikiri to get it into the atmosphere, and that's a lot of chakra. Any ideas?"

Naruto pondered the question. Ignoring the jibe about Madara, he spoke. "Have you thought about just being very tight on chakra use?"

Sasuke looked at him strangely. "Explain."

Naruto smiled. It was nice to know something that Sasuke didn't, on the rare occasion that it happened. "Well, when you use an elemental chakra, you're obviously going to use more then necessary. Every time you use raikiri you probably use a lot more then needed to actually take down your opponent. Why not just be tight with your chakra use, and then you'd be fine? You wouldn't even need a new jutsu."

Sasuke looked down. "And I was always meant to be the genius... Naruto, you really are one surprising ninja. I'll try that. Thanks." Again, inwardly Sasuke smiled. It had worked like a charm – all he needed was for Naruto to get his confidence back. By making him think he knew something that Sasuke didn't, it wouldn't take long. Sasuke spoke again. "How's you training been going, anyway? I noticed against the rain nin you seemed to be a lot more tactical."

"I am. When I was in sunagakure I spoke with Temari a lot about tactics in wind jutsu usage. When it comes to using them, I'm generally pretty good with it." Naruto replied.

"So what are you training now?" Sasuke asked.

"Well... Kakashi brought something up in my fight that has been getting at me," Naruto took out his curved knives from his belt. "These. I trained in them for two years, and I'm pretty good. But he said something that was totally true – why don't I use a sword? The answer is, because I don't know how. But... you do. Teach me?" Naruto eyed the rack to the side of Sasuke. It was full of various different types of ninja weapons that the Uchiha used to use. Now they all lay in waste.

"You want to know how to use a ninja-to?" Sasuke asked. He became aware of the one he held on his back, in a similar fashion to the way Sai held his. His was longer then Sai's – mainly because of Orochimaru's tastes in sword design. In reply to him, Naruto nodded.

After considering it, Sasuke spoke. "Alright, go and pick up a bokken."

Naruto body-flickered over to the weapon rack, and picked up a wooden sword, much shaped like a ninja-to, and body-flickered back. He held the bokken clumsily, and Sasuke drew his own blade.

They began. Sasuke moved over to stand next to Naruto, and began instructing him. "Alright, you've got to hold it like this," he said, and showed Naruto the correct hand to hilt correlation. "Ok. Now remember that you have to have a tight grip, but keep your fingers loose or you won't be able to swing properly." Naruto nodded and changed his grip accordingly. Sasuke carried on talking. "Now it's important you learn the basic forms and manoeuvres of sword fighting. Stand like this..." As Sasuke showed Naruto the correct fighting stance for certain situations, time passed. The day went on. Before long, Sasuke had Naruto going through basic combinations of movement, and showing him how to properly swing the sword in an attacking motion.

Dusk approached, and the light was slowly dimming, Sasuke set the lamps alight in the yard, and they carried on. Both were sweating and were working hard, but they both knew that this would benefit both of them. For Naruto, this was important as Kakashi had recommended it – for Sasuke, he knew that going through the basics of how to use his ninja-to was never going to be a bad idea.

Suddenly, a body appeared beside them. The masked, silver haired man spoke.

"Well, it's good to see you two are doing something useful when you forget about my meetings, anyway."

Naruto, who had just fallen over from a bad swing, stood up quickly. "Sorry, Kakashi-sama, we both didn't realise the time," he said.

Sasuke scabbarded his sword, and agreed. "Sorry, hokage-sama."

Kakashi nodded. "It's fine, don't worry. Its good to see you both getting on with things – and with something I recommended. But I need to talk to you both. Especially you, Naruto."

Kakashi walked towards them both, and they stood together. "Now, Naruto," he said, "I noticed some things in our match earlier. Would you like to hear them?" Naruto nodded. He was dreading what was coming, but it was necessary.

"It was painfully obvious from your ninjutsu that you still only know one type of elemental jutsu. I need to know – is this by choice or have you simply not researched into your other possible elemental affinities?" Kakashi got straight into the conversation.

Naruto spoke. "I simply haven't tested," he said. "Apart from the paper test, which shows I am wind, I don't know how."

"Fair enough, Naruto-san, but this is something we need to work on. The second thing I noticed was, as you did also, your choice in weapons. You are already taking care of this so I need not pursue the matter." Kakashi smiled. "the third, and probably most embarrassing for you, I would imagine, is your total lack of genjutsu defence skill. This is also needed to be worked on. This is why I wanted Sasuke here. He can help you out with both your weapon training and genjutsu training. If he would oblige?" Kakashi looked at Sasuke as he said this last sentence.

Sasuke nodded. "He needs all the help he can get, I suppose." Although Naruto looked enraged, he knew Sasuke was only joking.

Kakashi knew this would be the answer. They had already spoken and knew exactly how they were going to treat this situation. "The fourth thing I noticed was, and this is good, by the way, your expertise in wind jutsu and how to use them to your advantage with shadow clones. As you haven't been training with the mass shadow clones, as Yamato hasn't been there, this is extremely impressive. Especially your way of dealing with sharingan users – I was _very _impressed when I noticed that." Naruto looked proud of himself for this, at least. _Good, _Kakashi thought. _We need you happy. _He carried on speaking. "You have also grown tactically – you seemed to understand how to react to the events in a fight more then you used to. This is good." Naruto smiled again.

"So what should I do?" He said. "Train in genjutsu defence, weapons and my other ninjutsu skills?"

Kakashi nodded. "In a nutshell, yes. Now, down to technicalities. I'm reinstating you as chuunin, Naruto. I wanted to at least have you a juunin, but without the second elemental affinity and proper weapon expertise, I don't really feel comfortable in doing so. You will be doing missions with Sasuke, as he will be your main comrade and trainer, although the two of you will be put with others if the need arises. Speaking of which, I have your first mission, for both of you."

Although Naruto was dismayed at only coming back as a chuunin, the thought of a mission excited him. _24 years old, and a chuunin. I used to think I'd be hokage by now. _"What's the mission? It better be good.," he said.

Kakashi smiled – that was like the old Naruto. "It's a diplomacy mission. We need the two of you to go to the wave country and talk to the leaders about this militia they are starting. If possible, try to mention the idea of an alliance with Konoha, if not just portraying a hand in friendship at the very least. This will rid us of one threat that we are worried about."

Naruto sighed. "Is that it? Can you not give that to anybody else?"

Kakashi laughed this time. This really _was _like Naruto. "No, for two reasons. The first is that I have nobody else spare. The second is that you are still seen as a national hero. Remember the Uzumaki Bridge?"

Naruto smiled himself, now. "Oh yeah. It might be nice to go and visit, actually."

Sasuke had stayed quiet for a while. He knew of all this, as it was part of the plan to bring Naruto back to his former self. Now he spoke up. "I am going as well, then?"

Kakashi nodded. "Yes, just the two of you. It should not be a dangerous mission, simply a bit of mindless chatter, and then you return. Sound good?"

"I suppose we can manage it, can't we, Sasuke?" Naruto looked at his friend.

"I've got nothing better to do, I guess." he replied.

Sasuke and Kakashi both started to believe the same thing. _It's working_, they thought.

* * *

**A/N - Managed to get this one up a bit quicker, I couldn't sleep so I just did it. If any of you are thinking any of the characters seem to be a bit OOC at the moment, I have my reasons. Obviously you've noticed the whole point of this at the moment is that Konoha need Naruto back and in his right mind, which he isn't in right now. Over the next few chapters you'll see some changes. As for Sasuke, I've tried to make him a more open person now, as this is set after his life goal has been acheived and he is feeling somewhat guilty for his actions. He's still Sasuke, but he's just a bit nicer - especially towards Naruto, who he feels he owes alot to.**

**Also, a 'ninja-to' is the type of sword that Sai wears on his back. The one that Sasuke sports is a much more tradition samurai sword, even though the difference is only a 2 inch length differentiation. A 'bokken' is a wooden ninja-to, which are used in training for beginners.**

**I'm not sure when the next chapter will be up, so sit tight. And remember to review, dammit!! I want more then one review this time. Thanks to all that are reading :)**


	7. Unfulfilled Emptiness

**Sorry about how long this took to actually get done - It's hard to write something when nobody really seems to be reading it, and apart from that, I've got exams and stuff on at the moment. I'll try and get chapter 8 up soon, but please, remember to review every chapter you read?**

* * *

The rain fell on Fire Country as the two shinobi made their way through the forest towards wave country.

Naruto bounded forwards, with Sasuke a few feet to his right. Both were taking their time, as they had no need to rush. The greenery swept past them as the drip of water fell from the heavens. Both ninja's felt as if they would never be dry again, but the schedule must be sticked to. They wanted to be at the border by sundown, and they were only three quarters of the way there. They had time in hand, however, and Naruto asked Sasuke to stop a moment.

"I have a question, Sasuke-kun." Naruto said.

Sasuke looked at Naruto underneath his long black hair. "Shoot," was all he said.

"You said Kakashi was meant to meet us in the morning. Why did he come and get us in the evening, and make out we had done wrong by forgetting to meet him?" As they had moved, the realisation that things didn't quite add up had dawned on Naruto.

After hearing the question, Sasuke smiled. "I was thinking exactly the same thing. I'm guessing that somethings came up that meant we had to go a bit quicker. Well done for noticing."

Stood there, cold and wet, Naruto stared at Sasuke. "When did you notice this?" He asked.

Sasuke was getting a feeling that he knew what Naruto was getting at. "Almost straight away... why?" He decided to humour Naruto.

"If you notice something like that, tell me, Sasuke-kun. We're a team again now. We're not the kids we were – this shits serious." Naruto looked grim. Sasuke simply nodded, and apologised.

"I'm sorry, Naruto. I didn't think about it." Naruto nodded back, and motioned for them to set off again. As they both moved through the forestland again, Sasuke made some observations in his head. _He has definitely improved... somewhat. He didn't notice straight away, but the fact that he did at all without any prompts is an improvement. _Sasuke smiled to himself. _I should tell Kakashi that there are some things we want to keep._

Moving slowly east, they approached a clearing that Naruto was previously unaware of. Stopping in the middle of it, he turned slowly as he looked around. Back to back with Sasuke, they both took in the surroundings.

"We're in a perfect circle, aren't we, Sasuke." Naruto whispered.

Sasuke activated his sharingan. "Yes. From what I can tell, it's man made. We seem to be expected by somebody. You ready?" They didn't look at each other – they kept their eyes on the nature around them. Attack could come from any angle.

Naruto nodded, his wet hair sticking to his face, as it drooped over his forehead protector. He had tried a chuunin outfit on earlier in the day, but had found the look uncomfortable. After changing back into his own clothes, he was now wearing a soaking wet combo of black pants and green hooded cloak over a black shirt. He wore a bokken attatched to his back, which, after a slight argument with Sasuke, had been agreed on.

"_Come on, I'm good enough!" He had complained to Sasuke._

"_You've had one training session, Naruto. I'm not trusting you with it, you'll kill yourself. Or me. Take a bokken if you need to." Sasuke pried the ninja-to out of Naruto's fingers, and set it back on the rack. Picking up a wooden version of such a sword, he passed it to the blonde shinobi._

"_This is embarrassing? A training stick?" Naruto wasn't annoyed, simply put-out. He hated being second best – even when he knew that was just how it was. He begrudgingly attatched the scabbard to his back, and swung the wooden sword over his shoulder._

Now, he was glad to have something there. He still carried his knives, but was against using them for the time being, as he was trying to get used to the feel of a ninja-to.

A bush rustled more then it should, and both shinobi noticed it. Neither moved, but Sasuke's eyes glinted. He spoke, softly. "I think theres three. They'll attack together. They obviously don't know who they're dealing with."

"Gotcha. Let's take 'em." Naruto whispered. No sooner then the sentence was out of his mouth did the opponents reveal themselves.

Dressed in black, with hats reminiscent of the old Akatsuki headgear, the three unknown assailants entered the clearing. Forming a triangle around the two leaf shinobi, the three started making hand seals. Sasuke saw three of the forms and immediately knew it was going to be bad.

"Naruto. Head up." He said. Another nod from Naruto and they shot up into the air, just as a triangle of light appeared on the ground where they were standing. As they flew upwards, it faded quickly. Nothing was left on the ground except charred remains.

"Shit! What the hell was that?!" Naruto shouted. Sasuke shook his head, as they both fell downwards. Sasuke fell lithely onto his two feet, while Naruto landed on all fours.

The two Konoha shinobi found themselves on opposite sides of the triangle. One of the enemies turned and faced Sasuke. The other two turned towards Naruto.

Naruto smiled. _Two on one? I think not... _He put his hands together in that ever familiar seal. "Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" He shouted, as many versions of himself took up stance in the clearing.

Sasuke smiled. One on one with a sharingan user. His enemy evidently had no idea of the basic tactics of engagement. Activating his bloodline limit, he drew his ninja-to. Taking up stance, he watched his opponent form a new set of handseals, none of which Sasuke recognised. However, thanks to the sharingan, his instincts told him exactly what to do.

Naruto's shadow clones weaved in and out of one another, making it impossible for the two mystery shinobi to attack the real him. Moving his bunshin's to the edge of the clearing, they formed a semi-circle – with the two enemies looking very confused and wary of Naruto's planned attack.

Sasuke, who was fighting on the grass on the other side of the clearing, was currently admiring the opponents jutsu's. _He must have a bloodline limit. I've never seen this type of chakra before! _

Beams of light began shooting out of his opponents hands, aiming for the Uchiha. Sasuke danced his way beneath and above them, and eventually they stopped. The opponent was sweating – that was evidently a high chakra technique. But now it was Sasuke's turn. He pointed his sword forward. The blade shone, a yellow glow. The opponents eyes widened – before the glow extended and hit him through the chest.

Sasuke sheated his sword before the dead shinobi even hit the ground.

Naruto's clones had finished the handseals. The two enemies were bracing themselves. Naruto brought his hands up to his mouth. The bunshin's all shouted in unison. "Fuuton: Daitoppa!" A wind technique, vaguely reminiscent of Sasuke's great fireball, shot out towards the two men. They were caught in the middle of a hundred gales of wind – blowing strong enough to rip the very grass from the ground.

Naruto ended the wind jutsu. The two men had been lifted high in the air, being physically beaten by the wind. Now they came crashing down to earth, landing hard. Both of them didn't move.

Dispelling his bunshin, the real him walked forward to his enemies. Both of them were dead. From the looks of it, the vast majority of their bones had either been broken or dislocated. The pain itself had killed them.

Sasuke stood up from examining the corpse that he had made. The dress of the enemy brought back horrible memories. _Itachi..._ The smiling brother. The traitorous brother. The dead brother.

He stood up and walked over to Naruto. "What do you think?"

"It was too easy. They attacked, seemingly, without knowing anything about us." He replied.

"I think so to. It was a test." Sasuke continued, "Look underneath the hat." Naruto looked puzzled, but lifted the hat up. His eyes widened slightly.

Underneath the hat and hair of his opponent, was a forehead protector. It was blank. He did the same to the other opponent, and found the same evidence. He sighed. "This could mean anything," he said.

"No, it could mean a few things." Naruto looked puzzled, again. Sasuke carried on. "They are either another type of Akatsuki. Or, they are bandits with an attempt at style. Or, as I think more likely, they are a group of shinobi from the wave country that want to start up a ninja village – but haven't been allowed. They were trying to stop up from getting there."

Naruto shrugged. "You were always better at that crap then I was. You can make those decisions."

Sasuke laughed, before they both headed out of the clearing.

_**Some hour's later...**_

The two of them were bedded down on the Konoha side of the great Uzumaki Bridge. Sasuke didn't like this place. It reminded him of a life when he only had one thought on his mind. Although at the time he had thought it necessary, he was ashamed of himself for allowing the defiling of Zabuza's grave. The man had been a great warrior and shinobi. He should have been glorified.

Naruto was lying there in the darkness, but he couldn't sleep. The attackers had him intrigued, but he couldn't fathom why they would feel the need to attack the two Konoha shinobi. And where were they from? He decided that sleep was unavailable for the night.

"Sasuke-kun." Naruto said.

"Yes, dobe?" Sasuke mused.

"Train my weapons more, Sas-gay?" Naruto retorted.

"Hmph. Alright."

And so, the two delved into more hard work with the weapons they had in their possession. Sweat glistened in the moonlight, and the two were probably a very odd feature to be seen in the dead of night. The two practiced silently – Sasuke trying more advanced combinations of movement, while Naruto went through the basics in his mind once again – if he could become a master at the easiest part of the ninja-to, the rest would come easily.

Dawn came and found the two still practising. Both were tired yet felt refreshed – as if they had simply got up for a morning work out. Before setting off, both bathed in the sea to remove the sweat that had grinded into the skin through the training session.

As they washed, Sasuke noticed a mark on Naruto's back. It seemed like a seal, but was much more reminiscent of the tattoo that was engraved onto Gaara's forehead. It was at the lower left of the back, and was just a simple kanji. It read 'determination'. It confused Sasuke, yet he said nothing. The only mark that he had ever gained to his body was the cursed seal – and after it had been removed, he had cut the skin at the top of his shoulder to remove the scarring of the seal. He did not want a constant reminder of the hell that it had made him.

As for Naruto, as he washed his face, he decided to ask Sasuke the burning question. After all, it had to be asked eventually.

"Sasuke... I have a question – if you don't want to answer, I don't mind." This was Naruto's attempt at an approach.

"Go on." Sasuke replied as he straightened up out of the water. Both were stood there staring at each other.

"Now you are back in Konoha... do you ever plan to restart your clan? I thought I'd come back to a whole Uchiha nursery but... nothing." Naruto managed to get it out as quickly as possible. He held his breath and tensed slightly for a punch that was probable.

Sasuke smiled slightly. "Initially, and still eventually, that is the plan. But not yet. There are things in the way that need to be sorted out first."

Naruto let out his breath and nodded. "Sakura?" He asked.

Sasuke simply nodded. "Yes. Among other things. She still isn't entirely forgiving of me, however."

Naruto nodded. When Sasuke had arrived back in Konoha, most people, except the rookie 11, had welcomed him back. Eventually, so did most of the rookie 11. Nobody was against his return – simply, suspicious. It took Naruto and Sakura a long time to see him as part of the team again. Naruto, slowly, managed to bond again with the man, and now they saw each other as brothers. But Sakura... she, surprisingly, found it even harder to commit.

Naruto recalled seeing Sasuke one night, and he had been sure he was crying. Yet when he approached, Sasuke turned away, before looking back stony faced. Naruto, from Sakura, learnt what had happened.

_He asked for her, and she turned him down. He opened up his heart, for the first time he ever could, and she asked for more time. _Sasuke had understood, but it was still hard for him to take. Yet, he had set his all seeing eye on the woman that had so much patience for him. It was all he could do to give her that time back.

Naruto did not get involved in their affair. It was not worth it, and he wouldn't of been much help. He had not seen Sakura in his time back in Konoha – he wondered if it was because he spent a lot of his time with Sasuke, and she hadn't dare see him. When they returned, he decided, he would find her.

The two of them left the water. Clothing themselves, they set off down the bridge. It was fairly empty, with a few carts of baggage going either way. It was an hour to cross on foot, and the two had no need to rush. They were making good time.

* * *

**Please remember to review - it's really hard to carry on doing a story when you feel like nobody is really bothering to read it. **

**No idea when the next chapter will be out, as I have alot of stuff going on at the moment.  
**

Translations -

**Fuuton: Daitoppa - Wind release: Great Breakthrough**


	8. One Step Ahead?

**Hallo! Got this one up alot quicker then the last, please remember to review! I got an alright turn out for the last one, why not make an effort for a little constructive criticism with this one as well?**

The hour passed, and the two sauntered their way into the land of Wave.

The sea breeze smelt fresh, yet salty, on the nose and tongue. Naruto had always enjoyed the place, and was beginning to feel happier about his surroundings. The always morose Sasuke seemed deep in thought, yet Naruto left him to it.

To his left, he could see the pier, where Tazuna and Inari used to live. Now, they had moved inland – Tazuna's construction work had grown, and he was required by some major villages for building plans.

The tree's where the two of them had once spent a day and night climbing there way to the very top using only their feet – now, the idea of doing such a thing seemed so simple. There was once a time when crime and hardship and ruled supreme over this land – but now, as could be seen, it was a place full of potential.

Naruto spoke. "So where should we go first? I want some ramen, Wave country style!" His happiness shone through his words.

Sasuke cast a side glance at the blonde to his right, before putting on the blandest voice possible. "The first thing I have to say is that ramen is ramen, dobe. The second is that we are here to do a mission. Focus."

Naruto laughed. "Hah, Sasuke-kun, you always were a brown-nose!"

The Uchiha's eyes flashed red for a second, before he laughed as well. "If it were not you saying such a thing, you would be dead now."

Both of them grinned, yet slowly the laughter died out. They headed further into town, and away from the sea. The plan was to go and talk to the mayor of the town and take a look at his militia. They had been told by the Hokage that they were to extend a hand of friendship, at the very least – if not mention the idea of alliance.

Entering the mayor's offices, they approached a desk. Sasuke handled the proceedings, while Naruto toyed with a very small flower – imbuing chakra into it seemed to make it grow a little bit. Smiling, he looked away when Sasuke nudged him. They were moving, seemingly to the mayor's office.

They reached a very regal wooden door, heavily set with finery's and inscriptions. It opened onto a room of red carpet, with shelves of books and tapestries adorning the walls. Whoever owned this room was of some power, it seemed.

"I see you've noticed my collection?" said a voice.

Naruto looked over to the end of the room – behind a large desk sat a small, whispery man. Both he and Sasuke shared a glance before stepping forwards.

"Gato left them here after his untimely departure – most of them were sold for money to use for building up the country, but I kept some of the ones I liked for myself." The voice was soft, and slightly raspy. As they neared, it could be seen that the speaker was of middle age and thin, with grey hair just covering his scalp and a thin moustache, curving on his cheeks.

"So, ninja from Konoha, I am Masaru, the mayor of this village. Your names would be...?" the voice hightened as he ended in a question. For some reason, Sasuke did not feel comfortable in answering.

"I am Sasuke," he eventually said, "and this is my fellow shinobi Naruto. I have visited this land once before, while my friend has been here since on his travels." Sasuke kept the uneasiness out of his voice. Despite the simplicity of this mission, the whole room made him feel nervous.

Masaru looked at the two of them, before smiling a wide, toothy grin, showing off the gold fillings he seemed to have a mouthful of. He spoke. "Ah, so there is no need to show you around then!" He laughed hard, yet was not remotely bothered by the lack of amusement from Naruto and Sasuke. "Would you like to come to the training grounds and see our current development?"

Sasuke nodded in agreement, and the small, dwarfish man raced out of the room, begging them to follow. They did so, as Naruto muttered to Sasuke, "Something feels wrong."

"I know," whispered Sasuke. "Keep it quiet and act normal until I work out what it is." Naruto nodded very slightly and the two carried on walking. Masaru was quite happy to chat away while Naruto gave non-committal noises every now and then – both shinobi were taking the surroundings in a lot more then they were the conversation.

They left the building and headed down the road in a direction that they had not gone before. Heading inland, they started heading down a path in the forest. The greenery around them was lush and ripe with life, and the birds were in plentiful supply. In the distance, however, the noises of a workforce could be heard in the distance.

Another clearing was entered, perfectly circular. This one, however, was absolutely huge, and had been made big enough for a 1000 or so men to practice in easily – Sasuke knew this, because he could see them all.

Stretching off in the distance were lines and lines of men, all in white, going through the motions of training. Some were punching and kicking, some were practicing with weapons – including shuriken. And others, Sasuke noticed, were just standing there. _That's odd..._ he thought.

"And here you are, boys! Our very own practical defence team!" Masaru announced. Naruto was impressed with the sheer number of militia that seemed to exist.

Masaru carried on talking. "Come, follow me. I'll take you to the big boss around here!" He started bustling forward again. Naruto followed, but Sasuke dallied for a second. He was very curious as to what the men were doing – apart from staying still.

There was a large tent erected at the corner of the clearing, with all the supplies needed for training. There was also a few rooms inside it which seemed to be for housing. Out of one of these came a large, black bearded man. He saw Masaru and bowed, before noticing the two Konoha nin. A surprised look flashed across his face before it settled and he smiled slightly towards them. "Good day, Masaru-sempai. And the two Fire-nin – we welcome you. I am Osamu. I can see from your clothes you are an Uchiha," he said, looking at Sasuke. "And you I do not recognise. Your house name?" he asked Naruto.

"Uzumaki Naruto, Osamu-san," Naruto replied. "I doubt you will have heard of it."

"You doubt correct, Uzumaki. However, you are the one who's name sake is on our bridge, I realise, which means you have done tremendous deeds for this country." Osamu smiled again.

"We tried our hardest, Osamu-san." Naruto said. As he did, Sasuke looked out of the door – the men that were simply standing there had just flashed a bright white light – and a lot of commotion had just started. One man seemed to of been pinned down to the ground, while others were restraining him. _That __**is **__odd... _he thought. Definitely something to report back to Kakashi-sensei.

Naruto, Osamu and Masaru were still talking. Masaru said to Osamu, "Indeed, Osamu, these men are national heroes! They quelled Gato and reinstated trade into this land! And all at the tender age of 12."

Naruto smiled. "A long time ago now."

Sasuke's senses flinched. Something was coming. However, he couldn't activate the sharingan without them noticing. He just had to react in time.

Osamu's smile could not possibly get wider. "Well, Uchiha and Uzumaki. I'm sure you won't mind in helping us again?"

Naruto looked confused. "How so, Osamu-san?"

Sasuke began to feel on edge. _Was that shadow natural?_

Masaru was also smiling. He turned to Naruto. "You will see." The smile that had made them both feel so uneasy before now became downright evil. It was the last thing Naruto saw before collapsing.

As for Sasuke, he had been expecting some sort of attack, and he saw the man in white run through the door and come at him with, ironically, a bokken. He drew his ninja-to quicker then the eye could see and parried before sending the man to the floor, before Osamu stood up and hit him with a large fist, knocking him straight out.

_**Some time later...**_

Sasuke's eyes grogilly opened. Although the attack had been expected, that punch really hurt. His head was pounding, and he was finding it hard to focus his eyes. He could feel Naruto sitting near him, but was not yet able to see him. He breathed heavily and kept his eyes closed for a minute or two, before trying to see again. Now his sight was much clearer and his head felt better, he looked around.

Naruto was staring around. He had woken up first, taking a lighter knock then Sasuke. The room was dark and grey, bland with nothing but a blanket. He had not yet tried to remove himself from the room, and was still awaiting a chat with Sasuke before such a thing was tried. They were sitting directly across from an unmarked door, which did not seem to have any handle from the inside. He already knew _how _to get out. He just wanted some confirmation that it was a good idea.

"Sasuke, you awake?" he asked.

"Just about. Where are we?" Sasuke pulled himself up from his lying position and sat back against the wall. Level with Naruto, he surveyed the area.

"Who knows? Should we bust out?" Naruto asked.

"Not just yet." said Sasuke. "Wait until one of them comes for us. It will give us some information on why we have been treated like this. We know we can get out whenever we want, anyway."

Naruto thought about it, before agreeing. "OK. But I'm gonna kill Masaru. Seriously."

Sasuke smiled. "Feel free. I want Osamu, personally." _Nobody punches an Uchiha._

They sat in silence and waited. Their weapons had been removed, and they had been treated somewhat roughly on their way to wherever they were. A few new bruises were on both their bodies that had not been there before.

Naruto listened for any noise, while sitting back, resting his head against the cold, lustreless wall. The Uchiha next to him sighed. Sasuke was still feeling the effects of that punch, and didn't like it.

A bolt slid open in the door, and both of them were alert straight away, injuries forgotten. The thick door swung open, and light poured into the room. The two Konoha nin flinched and then waited for their eyes to adjust. As they tried to see, two men, dressed just as the ones in the forest had been, came into the room and stood at opposite sides of the door, before being preceded by another, small man.

"So," Masaru said, "you wake?" He looked at the two shinobi. He did not expect a reply, and so carried on regardless. He began pacing around the room. "I find myself with a problem and, luckily, a solution, boys. The problem?" He stopped his pacing and looked at the two ninja. "I have an army to raise, and nobody to teach them how to army." Now he smiled. "The solution? Well, two men just walked into my country waving a flag of peace who know exactly what it is to _fight._" The relish he put on the last word did not make Naruto any happier. Fighting was necessary, not enjoyable.

Masaru carried on talking, and began his pacing also. "So, this is the deal, which you will accept. You two stay here, become Wave nin in good gesture and we and Konoha ally. You then become happy little sensei's for my happy little recruits. All good with you two?"

Sasuke grimaced. "And what if we refuse?" He muttered.

Masaru's smile flashed once more, as evil as the first time. "Then Wave takes it's brand new little secret and _burns _Konoha to the ground. If not _further_." The smile disappeared. "The letter has already been sent to Konoha about your change of committal. You will be given your new forehead protectors and garments tomorrow."

Masaru and the two other guards turned and walked out the door in a swish of black cloaks. The door slamming and locking behind them. Footsteps faded away outside the door.

Naruto and Sasuke turned and looked at each other.

Naruto spoke first. "We're a bit fucked aren't we?" he said.

Sasuke smiled, and looked forward again, leaning his head back.

"Only while we want to be..." he muttered. Naruto's eyes widened, before he laughed. Hard.

**Hope you guys all liked this chapter, I think I did alright with it. Again, I have no idea when the next chapter will be up. As well as that I thought you should know that I'm planning on updating chapter one soon - the storyline won't change AT ALL, so you won't be missing anything - it'll just be longer. It's only 900 words at the moment, and it's really bugging me. I'll stick it in an A/N when it's done. Happy reading, and PLEASE, remember to review every chapter!!**


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